Va. fire chief at Fort Hood when shots rang out

Chief Matt Lausch designed the new fire alarm system that will sound at a new Army medical center in Fort Hood; he was inspecting the system when shots began.

PotomacLocal.com

FORT HOOD, Texas — Matt Lausch designed the new fire alarm system that will sound at a new Army medical center that will soon open at Fort Hood, Texas.

He was inspecting that system today at 4:30 p.m. central time when shots rang out on the base. At least 13 people were wounded when an unknown gunman opened fire on them before killing himself, according to initial reports.

Lausch, when not traveling for his job as a contractor, is the Volunteer Chief at the Manassas Fire and Rescue Department. Today on base, he said everyone was ordered to shelter in place as soon as shots rang out, so he about 20 of his co-workers at the site shuffled into a construction trailer at the job site where they remained more than three hours Wednesday night. “The wide area mass notification system told us to seek shelter immediately, and once you are in place to stay away from windows,” explained Lausch. “As we were doing that we were receiving reports from social media that there is an active shooter on the base and that there were multiple casualties.”